While gaming revenues declined statewide and on the Las Vegas Strip, Reno is bucking the recent downward trend with another month of gains.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported gaming revenues in Reno and Washoe County are up 3.5 percent through October. During October, casinos in Reno, Tahoe, and Sparks saw a 6 percent rise in gaming revenues to $50 million.
Reno tourism also was up in October, by 9.6 percent, and casinos reported a general improvement in local economic conditions, according to Gaming Control Board Senior Research Analyst Michael Lawton.
While Reno is doing well, gaming in other parts of Nevada slumped in recent months.
Las Vegas Strip gaming revenues declined by 5.1 percent, to $493.6 million in October, while statewide revenues declined by 2.9 percent, to $887.6 million in October. For the year, gaming revenues were level statewide and down by 1.8 percent on the Las Vegas Strip.
Contributing to the decline is a 19.2 percent decline in revenues from baccarat, which was only $78.3 million in October, as the total amount wagered on baccarat declined by 8.6 percent to $882 million. Through the first 10 months of 2015, baccarat revenues are down by 17.7 percent and baccarat wagering by 14 percent when compared to 2014.
Other table games also showed revenue declines on the Las Vegas Strip, with a 4.7 percent decline in revenues on table games other than baccarat, despite a 2.7 percent increase in the amounts wagered on table games, the Gaming Control Board reported.
With college football, the NFL, and the Major League Baseball playoffs in October, the month proved bountiful for Nevada sports books, which reported $504.6 million in wagers laid, including nearly $398 million on football. The amount wagered was the second-largest ever recorded in a month.
The increased wagering at sports books enabled Nevada casinos to take in $33.6 million from sports wagering, which is a 21.8 percent increase from a year earlier.
